Swap Team Gamma
by The Dragon Witch 6813
Summary: The Swap Force gets a mission: Stop the thieves. Swap Team Gamma has a team mission: Keep the team together. Stink Bomb has a personal mission: Reach out to a certain wildcat who tends to stay hidden.
1. The Meeting

"Guys, we have a meeting in five minutes!" Wash Buckler shouted, reading a magic letter that had just appeared. "We have to get to the Academy! Meeting Room Two!" The rest of his team, consisting of Blast Zone, Rattle Shake, Magna Charge, and Stink Bomb, paused for a moment, processing the situation, then began hurriedly gathering their combat gear and rushing out of Blast Zone's house, where they were doing some team building. Once outside, they activated their Portal Runes, which transported them to the Academy.

* * *

The five teammates entered Meeting Room Two, where there was a large table set up, surrounded by many chairs. To their surprise, their fellow Swap Force member, Trap Shadow, was the only other Skylander in the room. He was sitting in a chair on the left side of the table and looking at the clock above the door.

"Huh," Trap Shadow said aloud, breaking the silence. "Looks like they _did_ invite the entire Swap Force."

The others were confused, then realized that his statement would explain the large number of chairs. Blast Zone counted 16 chairs, including the one Trap Shadow was sitting in. One chair for each Swap Force member. Wash Buckler looked at Trap Shadow, who was watching them count the chairs.

"How long have you been here?" Wash Buckler asked.

"As of now, five minutes and fifty-six seconds," Trap Shadow replied. The other Skylanders stared at him as they sat down, noticing that the meeting was supposed to have started already.

A hologram of Eon appeared above the middle of the table. "Greetings, Sky-" he began. "Where are the rest of the Swap Force?" The Skylanders in the room shrugged, Trap Shadow rolling his eyes as he did so.

At that moment, Freeze Blade appeared in the doorway. "Hey guys!" he exclaimed. "What did I miss?"

"One minute and thirty-three seconds," Trap Shadow muttered.

"What?" everyone in the room asked, turning towards him.

"Freeze Blade is one minute and thirty three seconds late," Trap Shadow replied.

"No way. You've got to be joking," Freeze Blade said.

"Actually," Magna Charge cut in, "he is correct."

Everyone looked at Trap Shadow in disbelief as he replied with a smirk, "I don't joke around."

* * *

As more Skylanders trickled in, the chatter in the room increased. Every time a Skylander entered, Trap Shadow would mutter exactly how late they were, though no one heard him. Spy Rise was the last one to arrive. He was almost seven minutes late, entering the room with a sheepish look.

Stink Bomb could've sworn he heard Trap Shadow mutter sarcastically, "Our glorious leader."

Master Eon sighed. "Now can we start the meeting?""Members of the Swap Force," Eon began dramatically after Spy Rise sat down, "your mission today is to apprehend a band of thieves scattered across the Cloudbreak Islands. These bandits are dangerous, stealthy, and- yes, Magna Charge?"

Magna Charge lowered his raised hand. "Why can't the Ring of Heroes handle it?" he asked.

"The Ring of Heroes is having a few... er... teamwork issues," Eon replied, "and teamwork, as you all know, is crucial to any team operation."

"Swap Team Alpha!" Eon called, pausing for effect, "You shall apprehend the thieves in Twisty Tunnels."

Spy Rise stood. He motioned for his team to stand as he said, "Received and understood, sir." He, Night Shift, Boom Jet, Doom Stone, Grilla Drilla, and Trap Shadow left the room to prepare for their mission.

"Swap Team Beta! You will track down the thieves in Motleyville."

Rubble Rouser, Free Ranger, Freeze Blade, and Fire Kraken cheered as Hoot Loop saluted Master Eon, then led his team out of the room.

"That leaves us with Swap Team Gamma! You shall find the thieves in Iron Jaw Gulch." The remaining team cheered as Wash Buckler replied, "Aye aye, captain!"

They left the room, determined to not let Eon down.

* * *

Swap Team Gamma boarded the Dread Yacht as they tried and failed to start a conversation.

Sighing, Wash Buckler tried to boost his team's spirit.

"Alright, guys, we've finally gotten a team mission that isn't cleanup. It might be our first mission as a complete team, but I am confident that we can pull it off."

Stink Bomb smiled and said, "Yeah, we've been through lots of missions before, including facing Kaos and the forces of darkness! We can handle thieves, right?"

The other Skylanders gave nods and murmurs of agreement.

"Swappable!" Wash Buckler called.

"Unstoppable!" The others replied, erupting into cheers.


	2. The Mission

The team arrived at Iron Jaw Gulch to find Sheriff Wheellock barking orders at other sharks. The sheriff waved at the Skylanders, who hurried over to him.

"Thank goodness you're here," he said. "I've got teams tryin' to track the bandits down, but they might not be equipped to apprehend 'em. Could you maybe help us out?"

Wash Buckler nodded. "Okay guys, divide and conquer. Blast and Rattle, you guys join a team and head after one of the bandits. Doesn't matter which one. Stink and Magna, you guys join another team. I'll join the third team. We meet back here afterwards. That okay with you, Sheriff?" Wheellock nodded in agreement.

"Okay, guys, let's do this!" Wash cheered. The rest of the team let out a flat cheer. Wash added _on-mission morale_ to his mental list of _Things this Team Needs to Work On_.

* * *

The Skylanders and teams had little difficulty tracking down the bandits. However, the outlaws didn't go down without a fight. They were armed with explosives, energy pulse blasters, and various melee weapons. However, the Skylanders managed to take them down. After the bandits were rounded up and jailed, the team celebrated with lots of cheering on their way back to the Academy.

When they returned to the Academy, they headed into another conference room for a mission debrief. They were the first ones there, however, so they had to wait for the other teams to return. After a few minutes, Swap Team Beta entered, followed by Swap Team Alpha.

Thankfully, the debrief was brief, and the Swap Force were left to their own devices. Stink waited for the other Skylanders to leave so he could avoid the crowd, and he noticed Trap Shadow doing the same. Once most of the others had left, Trap Shadow stood, but instead of leaving, he approached Master Eon.

"Master Eon, sir," Trap Shadow began, "I would like to volunteer for the cleanup crew assigned for our mission."

"Are you sure?" Hugo, who was beside the Portal Master, asked. "You don't want a break after your mi-"

"I insist," Trap Shadow interrupted. "Oh. Apologies. Didn't mean to cut you off."

"That's fine," Hugo said. "The crew leaves from Dock Eta in a few minutes."

"Thank you." Trap Shadow nodded his head in respect.

"May I join, too?" Stink, who had been listening to the conversation, asked.

"If you would like, then of course," Master Eon said.

"Let's go, then," Trap Shadow said to Stink while rushing out of the room.

* * *

While on the transport ship, Stink noticed other Skylanders giving him _looks_ that definitely weren't the good kind. He found Trap Shadow just standing by himself in a corner of the ship.

Stink approached him, trying to ignore all the stares he was getting. "Hi."

Trap Shadow looked at him, confused, as if he was unsure Stink was talking to him. "Hi?"

"Why are people staring at me like this is high school and I'm the newest embarrassment?" Stink whispered.

"You're a Ring member," the wildcat replied. "Ring members are _never_ on cleanup. Why'd you even volunteer?"

"Because you did," Stink answered before his brain could stop him. As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized how weird they sounded.

"I'm sorry, what?" Trap Shadow asked. "Because _I_ did? Stink, that's probably the dumbest reason to volunteer."

"No, it was kind of because I didn't know anyone actually _volunteered_ for cleanup," Stink said hurriedly.

"Yeah, Trap's one of the only Skylanders to actually volunteer for this kind of thing," someone from nearby cut in. Looking around, Stink Bomb spotted Grim Creeper making his way towards them. "The only other Skylander that we know of volunteering for this job is you, sir. Congratulations," the reaper said dryly.

"Uh, thanks," Stink said. "So, why do you volunteer, Trap Shad-"

"Just call me Trap," he interrupted. "We all go by first name here. Makes things quick and easy. And to answer your question, I feel like cleanup crews go unappreciated. It's also unfair when the same Skylanders are doing all of the cleanup, even if they're rotating in groups. And despite the name, cleanup can get messy, especially in areas with unstable structures. So, in summary, I like to help out as a way of showing appreciation to those who clean up collateral damage."

"So, where are we headed?" Stink asked.

"Iron Jaw Gulch," Grim replied.

"Glad I'm here, then," Trap said. Stink gave him a confused look, to which Trap sighed. "It was your team's mission, right? Well, no offense, but you guys aren't exactly the cleanest fighters. Blast Zone's bombs tend to make a mess, and so do Wash Buckler's ink and occasionally Rattle Shake's venom, not to mention the debris Magna Charge can leave when he slams stuff on enemies. But in your defense, the bad guys tend to make a mess, too."

"Oh," Stink said, not realizing just how much damage a battle could cause. "Sorry."

Trap shrugged. "At least you're helping clean up the mess. Besides, your team isn't the only team that has a tendency to wreck stuff on missions."

"We're landing in a few minutes!" someone called out.

"Well, glad to have an extra pair of hands," Grim said to Stink.

Stink smiled. "Happy to help. Let's do this."

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I really appreciate it when people take the time to read my stories. On that note, I feel bad for not updating stories often, but I have four unfinished stories (including this one) and life. So, I have decided to prioritize two of them. There is a poll on my profile page where you can choose which stories take priority, so, if you would like (hopefully) more frequent updates on this or another story, please cast your vote. Thanks!**

**EDIT: The poll will close on December 26, 9:00 AM US EST.**


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